Stone Guardian by Danielle Monsch

Genre Paranormal Romance Published 15 July 2013  Publisher Romantic Geek Publishing Series Entwined Realms book one

Gryphons flying past skyscrapers? Wizards battling it out in coffeehouses? Women riding motorcycles with large swords strapped to their backs? All normal sights since the Great Collision happened twenty-six years ago.

Well, not normal for everyone. Larissa Miller may have been born after the Great Collision, but as a history teacher who lives in the human-only city, she has never come into contact with any other race or species, nor has she wanted to. Her life is as ordinary as it gets – that is, until one day she walks out of her apartment and is attacked by a mob of Zombies, only to be saved by a Gargoyle.

Gargoyles trust no one outside their Clan, but due to a cryptic prophecy, Terak, Leader of the Gargoyles, has been watching over the human woman for months. While he can find no reason why the woman has been singled out, something about her stirs every protective instinct within him. When the attack confirms that the threats against her exist and are real, he convinces Larissa that though their races have never been allies, the best chance of discovering why she has been brought into his world is by working together.

The Urban Book Thief Review

Hurrah! Today is the release date of Stone Guardian, a brand new paranormal romance series for you to fall hopelessly in love with.

I know I did.

It wasn’t love at first glance though. It took a few chapters for me to warm up to the storyline but from the half-way point and onwards: ay carumba! I knew we were gonna be best friends forever. I must admit that at first I was a little apprehensive about our title’s sexy gargoyle protagonist. I mean, he’s made of stone – right – so it kinda brought a whole new dimension to the words, ‘rock hard abs, ‘stony gaze’ and other titilating words that rhyme with the word coc… oh er… rock.

I can’t even apologise for that one.

The book lands you head first into the action, and by this I mean the baby-action (va-va-voom). Twenty-six years ago, our world collided with several other realms, creating some sort of  magical cataclysmic BOOM (I imagine it made a rather large noise). During the big boom, otherwise known as the Great Collision, little Miss Larissa was born to the (now) Chief of Police.

Out of the ashes was born a new world made up of people and creatures from many different realms, all stuck on our plain of existence. Predictably, humans feared their new brothers and sisters and so hired several super powerful mage’s to create a ward to trap all the wee beasties outside.

Inside their bubble, humans carried on as if things were normal. Not realising that some creatures could get in and out…

Larissa

This book focuses on the relationship between Larissa and Terak, a human woman and the Clan leader of the gargoyles, an isolated race feared by many. Larissa is a teacher who grew up with a hoard of over protective men – all of whom are cops. Unfortunately for her, she hasn’t been having such a great time of it as late. Zombies keep popping out of the woodwork, orcs are chasing her across the park and necromancers will do absolutely anything to capture her. Worryingly, no one knows why she’s suddenly at the top of everyone’s Christmas list.

“I’ve been thrust into some new dimension where up is down and everything I’ve given complete faith to is worthless. I’ve blindly trusted my dad and the system, and it’s all a lie.”

This author knows how to write great kick-ass scenes. If you like action, there’s a whole heap of it waiting in store for you in this book. Larissa isn’t much of a character to get down and dirty, but there’s plenty of minor characters waiting in the wings to kick some paranormal butt. The first time she gets attacked, our dear lady acts stunned and bursts into tears. She may even have peed her pants a bit. There’s no shame in it… I would have. I detest zombies. They freak me the hell out. But as the story continues, Larissa whips out a can of whoop ass, grows a pair and fights back mano y mano.

Terak

But it’s not all that bad because Team Larissa has got herself a secret guardian. One who’s been warned by an oracle to keep an eye on her. Step-back Victor Hugo, Terak is one freakin hawt gargoyle. Unsurprisingly, sheltered Larissa is a goner for him from the outset.

How the hell did this happen? Stockholm syndrome? Some power dynamic because she was the helpless little woman and he was the big, powerful gargoyle?

No, it was because of his chest. No male should have a chest like that, and he never wore a shirt. Never, like they offended him or something. Maybe she should be grateful that at least he wore pants.

I adored the humor in this book. It wasn’t what I would call a comedy, but there’s definitely enough to offer some light relief once in a while. Who couldn’t love a character who muses about whether gargoyles have hair down there.

Terak reminds me a little of a Christine Feehan character. This isn’t necessarily a good thing in my book, (the purple prose vampire tale is not my bag at all) but it all worked out okay in the end as the more time we spend with Terak, the less wooden he becomes. Overall, he’s a stoic kinda chap with ‘a ye olde worldly’ way of talking. But enough about that! He’s a freakin’ gargoyle – so kudos for Ms Monsch for not leading with a vamp/were character. But! he also happens to have wings and a tail. Now, wings… definitely something I can get into, but a tail… still undecided on that one.

The narrative dips in and out of the lives of several minor characters who belong to a mysterious guild organisation made up of people from the New Realms. So far, we have been introduced to a mage, an elf and a vampire – among various others, including an oracle and some evil necromancers. And it’s because of these awesome awesome characters that I’m crazy excited about where this series is heading. Bad-ass Fallon is totally giving me Kate Daniels vibes – even down to the humungous sword she’s more than a little protective over.

Please Sir, Can I Have Some More?

The Urban Book Thief has awarded Stone Guardian a kiss factor rating of five – Monsch is Monster-ific, woo!